This week's Q&A comes courtesy of TB over at Bring on the Cats. My answers to his questions will be coming shortly.
RMN: Which K-State team should we expect to show up Saturday - the one who beat Texas or the one who lost to Iowa State?
BOTC: That team that showed up against Texas has been MIA since the game with Colorado. They made a brief guest appearance in the second half against Baylor, but otherwise injuries and apathy have killed this team. If I had to bet, I would guess we'll see some spark from this team because it is Senior Day, after all. Unfortunately, if Mizzou can withstand the initial attempt at a haymaker we'll throw, it will probably be all over but the shouting.
RMN: What is the best way to neutralize that blitz?
BOTC: Right now, the best way to stop our blitz is to tell your offensive linemen to just stand up and wait for the linebacker/defensive back to run into them. Against Nebraska, it worked pretty well, as apparently the idea of blitz in that game was to run headlong into NU's 300-pound linemen and hope that somehow generated some pressure on Joe Ganz. I see that Mizzou has only given up 14 sacks on the year, so Chase Daniel should be pretty safe.
RMN: Where does Jordy Nelson rank among K-State greats and is there any way to slow him down?
BOTC: He's right up there. I'm obviously going to miss some, but the greatest K-Staters on offense, in no particular order, have to be Darren Sproles, Michael Bishop, Jonathan Beasley, Quincy Morgan, Aaron Lockett, et al. Jordy Nelson shows up, works hard, and goes out and executes on Saturdays. If we had a team full of Nelsons, we'd probably be the fourth Big 12 team in the top 10. Unfotunately, we don't.
Your best chance to slow down Nelson may lie within Jordy himself. Word is he got dinged up against Nebraska, although it's not supposed to be anything too serious. He'll get his numbers against you, you just have to make sure he doesn't get too wild and crazy.
RMN: How much faith do Wildcat fans have in Josh Freeman and Ron Prince?
BOTC: At this point, not much. Ron Prince has demonstrated that, under certain circumstances, he can get incredible effort out of his football team. He has also demonstrated that he hasn't yet gained the ability to prepare his players every week in order to achieve real success, such as the division championship he talked about as the goal before the season.
As for Josh Freeman, I don't know what to say. I have faith that he'll complete 60 percent of his passes for about 300 yards and maybe one or two touchdowns, but that's about it. He isn't able to get the offense into the end zone consistently, and still is pretty likely to put up one or two really bad passes that get picked--which isn't surprising considering he's still a true sophomore. Of course, Prince's decided lack of commitment to the run game has something to do with that inability to score touchdowns, but that's another story.
RMN: Your prediction and the score.
BOTC: K-State will come out with a lot of emotion on Senior Day, but it won't be enough. Our last long winning streak ends, and we head to Fresno, Calif., next week still looking for bowl eligibility.
Mizzou 52, K-State 30